NOW TO A STORY YOU'LL ONLY SEE ON WMTW NEWS 8. THE FATHER OF THE SACO MAN WHO POLICE SAY KILLED HIS FAMILY ... BEFORE KILLING HIMSELF SATURDAY NIGHT ... IS SPEAKING OUT. IS SPEAKING OUT. W-M-T-W NEWS 8'S KATIE THOMPSON HAS THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW. áááÑ IT WAS A POLICE DETECTIVE WHO BROKE THE NEWS TO STEPHEN SMITH EARLY SUNDAY BROKE THE NEWS TO STEPHEN SMITH EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. HIS SON, JOEL SMITH HAD KILLED HIS WIFE AND THEIR THREE CHILDREN..BEFORE TURNING THE GUN ON HIMSELF IN THEIR SACO APARTMENT. BUT THERE IS MORE TO THIS STORY, SMITH SAYS, THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE POINTING FINGERS OR PLACING BLAME. A STORY OF A COUPLE BATTLING ADDICTION AND FINANCIAL PROBLEMS... THAT ULTIMATELY WOULD END IN TRAGEDY. "Five people are dead. Five of the closest people in my world are dead. And it had to do with addiction on both parts." STEPHEN SMITH SAYS HIS SON JOEL WAS STRUGGLING TO CONTROL HIS DRINKING WHILE HIS DAUGHTER IN LAW HEATHER BATTLED AN OPIATE ADDICTION. IT WAS JULY 15TH WHEN HE GOT A CALL FROM HIS SON...THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS WERE EMPTY AND HEATHER WAS HAVING SEVERE WITHDRAWLS. "he said come and get the kids and i'll let you know when I want you to come back I don't want them to see this." IN THAT TIME SMITH SAYS HEATHER ENTERED A DETOX CENTER AND BOTH SHE AND JOEL WERE RECEIVING COUNSELING. "joel loved his children and he loved heather and heather loved him they just had problems but he adored those children." WHEN HE RETURNED ABOUT A WEEK LATER WITH THEIR THREE CHILDREN ...JOEL TOLD HIS DAD HE WAS NO LONGER DRINKING. BUT SMITH, WHO HAS A BACKGROUND IN SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELING, SAYS HE KNEW..SOMETHING WASN'T RIGHT. "you'd talk to him and he would be looking at the walls and stuff and then come back and sometimes engage you and sometimes not. And it hit me that his alcoholism had been so bad that when he quit drinking that went into alcohol withdrawls." BUT HE SAYS HE NEVER IMAGINED WHAT A DETECTIVE WHO KNOCKED ON HIS DOOR WOULD TELL HIM...LESS THAN A DAY AFTER HE SAW THEM LAST. "he said joel is deceased..heather is deceased..and he named off all the children and every time I heard it..it was like a slap in the face." THE MAINE STATE POLICE SAY THE CASE IS UNUSUAL IN A SENSE THAT THERE WERE NO RECORDS OF PREVIOUS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. "Anyone that really knows joel would know that he would not hurt those children willingly. The only thing that I can think of is that his thinking may thing that I can think of is that his thinking may have been so messed up from the alcohol detox that he thought that was the only way to save them." SMITH SAYS HE REGRETS NOT FORCING HIS SON TO DETOX IN A HOSPITAL AND NOW HOPES THIS STORY CAN SAVE THE LIFE OF SOMEONE ELSE. people need to asses their life and if alcohol or drugs are too important in their life they need to get help áááÑ STEPHEN SMITH SAYS HE PLANS TO SELL HIS HOME IN MAINE AND MOVE TO ALASKA WITH FAMILY TO TRY AND MOVE FORWARD. FUNERAL SERVICES ARE SET FOR MONDAY MORNING IN THE FAMILIES HOMETOWN OF PHOENIX ARIZONA. LIVE IN THE STUDIO KT WMTW NEWS 8